Seperated Conflict: Inku Himatsu vs. Ardiente Serenata
"... Sand..." A man mumbled to himself as he crawled over the tall dunes of Hueco Mundo. A book was open, pages supported on each side by his own fingers as he scribbled furiously in it. After a brief moment, he looked up, crooked his head to the side, then looked down and began writing furiously once again. "No corpses... yet..." He mumbled. It wasn't like the Head-Captain to send him out to do reconnaisance. But when an entire squad is wiped out, who else would they send..? Ardiente Serenata traversed the desert. She was hoping to find some sign of her love somewhere nearby. They had been seperated for about one month now. It was excrutiating. Zanpakuto on her back, she had treked this area recently, but she always made sure to go over once more. Her head looking towards the blazing sun, her horns giving off a dulled glint in the rays. The sand blowing, her small shirt flapping. Giving off another sigh. Peering outwards, she saw a figure... a man. A Shinigami! Maybe he'll know where Bailarin is... He glanced up for a moment, then looked back down. "Arrancar..." He grumbled, writing at an incredibly fast speed in his book. Almost immediately, there was a sketch of the figure and a written description next to it, as well as first thoughts and probabilities of a fight... It wasn't like he couldn't handle handle himself if there was one. Ardiente walked up the rolling dunes, as she neared closer and yet closer. Thoughts of violence and pain went into her mind, she was tired of these Shinigami, they had taken Bailarin away from her, hurt her, and now, she ventured in this desert because of them!'' As soon as I'm through with him, he'll wish he hadn't even came to this place. Hueco Mundo is not their 'land to travel to... He stood, waiting for her. It was obvious she wanted something; the look on her face was urgent yet hostile at the same time. She could ask the first question. It was only fair. Maybe they could get through this without fighting? Improbable... Walking up to him. Her lip curling into a sneer. Hatred clear as she asked the question, albeit, her features showed friendliness. Sarcasm... was key. "Welcome to Hueco Mundo..." "Let me ask you something, stranger, ''what brings you here?" Oblivious, the man smiled warmly. The sarcasm present in her voice wasn't noticed at all. "Oh, I'm looking for something." He replied quickly, faking enthusiasm and cheerfulness as he explained. Ardiente smirked cockily, "What would that be? Another person perhaps?" "Not exactly..." He said evasively, implying something else and that that was the right answer at the same time. "But what are you doing here? And may I ask of your name?" Not liking the answer or questions, she answered despite them. "I'm here looking for someone." She left out the bit that it was Shinigami that did it. "And my name, is Ardiente Serenata." "Not that's it's any of your buisness." Her heart bitter, she was beginning to lose intrest. Not to mention time. "'Who?" ... A moment passed, and the man was still scribbling obsessively in his book. The question... Had been asked with such threatening urgency that it seemed unlikely it had come from the man himself. But the voice couldn't have come from nowhere. It was his. After a moment, he looked up cheerfully, acknowledging both that he had asked a question and that he was expecting an answer with the look on his face. "I don't see how that's your buisness either..." But, if he knows her name, I can question him... and plus, if he irritates me enough, I'll just kill him. "But... her name is Bailarin Mareado, my lover." "I was seperated not too long ago from her, about a month or so..." She waited for his reaction, it would decide her evaluation of him. Unfortunately, he offered no reaction, and simply began scribbling in his book as he always did. Or was that a reaction in itself? Was 'no reaction' a reaction? Regardless, when he finished, he looked up uneasily, his expression giving nothing away of his mood. "I'm looking for corpses~." He said daintilly, as if it were nothing serious. Not the reaction she was looking for. "Corpses?" "What kind? And whos..." Bad choicing for words... Ardiente grimaced, hating how he kept ignoring her and scribbling in that book. Kicking some sand unto the book and his hakama. Hoping to get better attention. "Sorry." Offering a sarcastic smile. Almost as soon as her foot started moving, the book was raised with the cover facing Ardiente, shielding the pages he was writing on along with his face from the sand. "What kind..? I'm sorry, I didn't realize that there were different types of corpses!" He shouted happily, though his voice contained some underlying hostility. He had begun to irk to the no return point. "Oh, plenty, some times their are ones that still walk, ones tha-" Her hands lunging for the top of his face, hoping to crush and cave in that pesky skull of his. It would make him shut up. She found better time spent searching, then trying to get anything out of him... "Bakudo Nine: Geki." A brilliant red light overcame Ardiente, and all at once, she found herself unable to move. He placed a finger up to her forehead, glanced down at his book for a second, then pulled his hand back and stuffed it back inside his hakama. Finally finishing, he placed it--once again--up to her forehead. "Hado Four: Byakurai." Lighting erupted from his finger; ready to travel straight through the head of the woman he had binded. Ardiente closed her eyes, spiritual pressure emulating from her body, shattering the Geki she pulled her arms forward, sending a light pulse of spiritual energy to knock him backwards. Her own hands, then drawing forth Corriendo Fiebre, the large Zanpakuto. Placing in front of her, legs spread lightly, a battle-stance formed. "Hado One: Shō~!" Inku called mockingly as an invisible force sent Ardiente flying backwards. "Oh... You fell..." He mumbled. Even though his book was away, he was still holding his pen tightly with the other hand. Growling mentally, and verbally... Ardiente rushed forwards, Zanpakuto in the air, Bala formulating on it, bringing it down on the ground infront of him and her. Air and sand rushed everywhere, giving the air a whirl of blinding sand. "Hado Fifty-Eight: Tenran!" Inku cried, as all of the sand was sucked up into a whirlwind which was heading straight for where sensed Ardiente was. If she was going to obscure his vision, she should've made it so he couldn't sense her reiatsu, too... Oh well~! It only meant he could have more fun killing her. Looking towards the whirlwind, she didn't make much of a move, the blinding sand interfering from before. Tossing her high upward, she focused a Cero Baile as she fell, several seconds before hitting the ground, she launched it. An expert tactic. Opening a Garganta to where the Cero Baile was sent, it re-appeared directly above him. Painfully, she hit the sand dunes. But a glorious thought remained. Too late... Inku didn't look up. The cero blasted into him, creating a small crater where he was and kicking up sand in every direction. How did he get hit..? It wasn't possible... This was making him angry. He didn't enjoy being angry. She had made him angry. So getting rid of her should make him happy, right? As these thoughts flew through his head... Inku remained motionless on the ground. Ardiente smirked, slowly getting up, she walked towards Inku. Looking at him, he was still alive... Spiritual Energy forming, she could slice his body in half with a precise Bala from her sword. Your mine now! Blade whistling, she did a vertical slash, pulling it upward, hoping to decapitate him, head down... "Yaiba no Sumi~." A large black mass intercepted Ardiente's zanpakuto, and though it didn't stop it immediately, the movement of the blade was slowed to a crawl in a split second. Inku, keeping his new black locked with Ardiente's, Inku stood. "Mmm... Attacking an opponent who isn't ready; who's unarmed; who didn't want to fight in the first place... You're either a whore or a coward, aren't you..?" Ardiente quirked her head. "Guilty." She wasn't planning him to gain a verbal edge, not like it mattered. The blade had slowed down to a sluggish falter, it was beginning to tick her off. This man knew alot of Kido... Smirking, she had a 'nifty' trick. Letting go of the Zanpakuto, she placed her hands on the ground, light particles heating up the ground, slowly heating up the already blazing area, but also, the heat from it... was going to cause a decent enough explosion. "Am I whore now?" Tch. "Why are you asking me? Should you know if you're a whore?" Inku simply pointed the blade down towards the ground. An ungodly amount of ink flowed out of the pen, feeding the blade which lengthened and launched Inku a considerable distance into the air, away from whatever the woman was going to do. "Eh, I guess I am." Looking at the ink. She took no time, causing the mountain of sand to erupt, she smiled wickedly. Placing her hand in the air, bringing her Zanpakuto in the air, energizing the sand with spiritual energy, she send a blast of it towards him, hoping the light filled sand would hit him. And if they did... it would feel as if tiny bullets had penetrated his flesh. "Hado Thirty-One: Shakkahō!" Inku screamed, putting more power into the small red sphere than necessary. It hit the sand and exploded; scattering it every way possible, excluding his direction. With a small backflip, he landed, then glared at the girl. "You do realize that you're dealing with a Captain, right?" "A Captain...?" "Amusing... I did consider taking it easy on you. But your Shinigami, and the fact your a Captain, makes me want to gut you open... that much worse." Sliding her feet on the ground, she did a few motions, focusing as much of the moon's light particles she could gather quickly enough, small bubbles of light forming around his body. Dazzling and spectacular, they would have an even more 'extravagant' effect. "Multiply." More began to form, small, about the size of a finger-nail, they would eventually produce enough pressure to crush him. "Oh... I get it. You killed them, didn't you~? The members of the tenth division that were sent here. And they killed your lover, but you're living in a shell of ignorance in hopes that you'll be able to carry on your feeble and meaningless life, endlessly searching for someone who doesn't exist anymore. How touching." Inku prodded. What a pitiable girl. Pulling his pen back, then whipping it foward quickly, the blade smoothed out and became snake-like; with the mouth aiming to swallow the woman whole. Ardiente's eyes opened wide. Her breathing accelerating, how could he read her that easily? It hurt... the words stung. Her eyes gaining a watery look, a single tear rolling down the cheek. "NO!" A release command followed... "Endless Armor!" Her body changing, the cloths disinteragrated, quickly replaced by the armor that emerged soon after. Her body flaring light, encasing the area. The previous technique she had used, now gone. Her control over it gone. "She is alive!" Placing her sword behind her, fearsome beastial shield infront, perpared to block any incoming attack. The snake promptly smashed into her shield, and then began oozing over it's edges, making it's way to her hand rather quickly. "How do you know? If it was only a small skirmish, then how did she get so far away that you can't sense or see her?" He taunted easily. "No, Bailarin's not that weak, she's strong... she's..." She halted, she could remember how many times Bailarin had nearly died. How close she had actully came to being killed by Ardiente herself, when they were both Hollows. "I won't believe it, it was a small fight, she couldn't have died!" Denial sinking in. She used Sonido to teleport away from the ink, to his right, but remaining distant. The ink was slowly absorbed back into the pen, and he turned his head slowly, grinning. Suddenly, the bags under his eyes were prominent in the moonlight. "Or maybe I'm lying. Maybe... we have her." He giggled, finally turning his entire body towards Ardiente completely and taking up a defensive stance. "No!" "You can't! Stop!" She gripped her head for a moment, he had hit several key factors. She was denying every bit of it, doubt creeped in, ripping apart the hope that she was alive, and somewhere safe... "Cegador Ruptura!" ''Light began pulsing from her, coming out like a mist, then more powerful, pouring out of her like water. The area began glowing brighter, began becoming warmer, more heated. The emotions fueling it, her spiritual energy growing, the light soon spread everywhere within the area. ''Should I release..? I still have to find the corpses... So... Yes~! With incredible strength, Inku threw his pen as hard as he could at Ardiente. It sailed over her head and landed behind her. "Whoops..." The light rippling, distorting vision, the heat beginning to sear her Hierro, adding high tempatures to it. The light from Cegador was no venturing higher, and stretching farther, soon, the light would become blinding, and the very flesh of her foe, would melt into the bone, and that would just be the start... "Bankai..." The pen burst behind Ardiente, covering the immediate area with a thick, black liquid. Slowly, it all crept towards the center, then began lumping together, barely making out a distinguishible state in it's early form. An unearthly roar sounded from the incomplete being, alerting Ardiente of it's presence. By the time she turned around, it would be towering over her, in all of it's black glory. "Hyouimoji Kemono." Looking at the fiendish abomination of ink, her heart racing, it was terrifying to behold. Bringing her sword up, launching several bala, energized with the light she had generated from Cegador, towards the beast. Inku tilted his head to the side, and the beast simply flew to the right, watching with wonder as the bala flew past it. "You could always surrender now and save yourself the trouble... If you do, I'll let you see her." Inku prodded. He had no intention of taking her anywhere. The second she surrendered, he'd kill her. "I'd rather die then surrender!" Pulling all the light unto her, she sent it out in a wave, a total span of 360 degrees around, and above her. The light in the form of blades, sharp and wicked. She perpared to use Sonido soon afterwards to move towards Inku. "Bakudo Eighty-One: Danku." Inku shouted dully as the shield rose up in front of him, shielding him from the attack. "Funsha Nagare." A large black stream shot out from his Bankai's mouth towards Ardiente's moving figure. Ardiente took the blow, the ink covering her armor and skin. Blinking and hissing, the sand from the fall burning her eyes. She spun her legs, sending two Bala towards Inku's head and legs. Perparing to get up, hoping the sand would get out of her eyes soon. Sssssss! Ardiente felt a burning sensation on her skin. "Doesn't that hurt? Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't dodge..." Inku mumbled. Since he said the name of a move, he figured she would know an attack was coming and dodge... "Are you still a whore? That must get boring." Pulling up, the acidic nature of the ink melting through the armor, and stinging flesh. She heard the words, growling outwardly. "Whatever..." she wasn't going to respond. Placing the light on her body, helping evaporate and remove as much ink as she could. Opening her mouth, she pointed towards the Bankai. "Baile Cero!" She knew that if the creature blocked the blow, it would reflect and hit Inku... It did as expected, raising one huge limb and smacking it away. "...?" Inky grimaced as it rebounded towards him and struck him in the chest, sending him flying backwards in a large explosion. His Bankai was largely unaffected, however, and flew towards her, raising one massive claw and slamming it down on her person. Crushed and buried into the sound, underneath the clawed hand, she mumbled the words, "Brillante Bombardeo..." ''Light forming around the claw, and the connected arm of the Bankai creature, incasing it, causing a horrendous burning feeling, soon followed by a large explosion. It was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted. The lost limb quickly regenerated, the creature becoming slightly smaller due to it's loss in mass. Pinning Ardiente down with both claws now, it raised it's tail and thrusted it towards the Arrancar, hoping to impale the Arrancar. Grimacing, she opened her mouth, another Baile Cero forming, she enjoyed this technique, so... versatile. This time, the energy in it, full-powered, planning to destroy the tail, rather then reflect... plus... if he noticed, he would be on edge... ''Die! The tail exploded, but quickly reformed as before, the creature once again shrinking slightly in size due to it's loss in mass. There would be an easier way to take care of her! It still had her pinned down. "Funsha Nagare~." Inku stated happily from his place on the ground. He hadn't moved since he'd been blasted by her Cero. Was there a reason for him to? She was busy with his Bankai, after all... Ardiente smirked at the move. Noticing the creature. She didn't plan to move. "Barrera Campo!" A barrier forming on the creatues mouth, holding in the ink. She was growing tired... too many techniques, but she could go on for a long time at this rate... she had been in her Resurrecion for a long time. Her abilities were far more potent now. It's head exploded. This was getting annoying. Unforunately, with the creature being made of... Ink, it couldn't be damaged by itself. It simply reformed, as it always did. Inku giggled to himself. How could she not notice by now? Still, he obviously wasn't getting anywhere with her pinned down... He had the creature release her. Ardiente looked surprised, but she took the chance. Using Sonido, vanishing and reappaearing in a whir of static sound, above the creature. Opening up several Garganta portals, all in odd locations around the creature and Inku. Formulating her reflective energy into her Bala, sending one after another, and another into the portals, each one descending at high speeds at Inku and the Bankai, they would then reflect off, and enter another Garganta, repeating the process of bombardment. Fool... Inku sighed. She must be some special kind of retard, for her to think like that. Sighing, Inku simply waited to see which Garganta the first Bala would come out of. Dodging it skillfully, then watching as it made it's way into another portal, he climbed into the original one and made his way through. Finally, he came out the other side; and right where Ardiente had sent her first Bala. He was also out of range for the rest of them~! His Bankai followed suit, and was at once by his side. Growling, thinking of an idea, her concentration intense, the Garganta's positions removed, and now placed high in the sky. Her hands concentrated with spiritual energy. "Luz Acopio!" Adding weight to the light, these explosive mines falling out of the sky, a total of 50 feet to drop. She was going to make them regret escaping her lesser attack... "Shield me, you bastard..." Inku grumbled. His Bankai warped around him in a sphere, covering him completely in a black orb. He was shielded~. But after this, his Bankai would - most likely - be useless. The bombs exploding, damaging the Bankai, explosion after explosion eminating from the portals... which soon closed. Her concentration ceasing. Licking her lips, dry and parched from the tiring fight and dry winds. Waiting for the smoke to clear... to see if he survived. And he had! Inku's burnt carcass laid motionless on one of the many dunes below, facedown and still smoking lightly. His Bankai was nowhere to be seen, and while it was clear that he still had a feasible amount of reiatsu left, he didn't have the strength left to reform it. Ardiente walked forward, armor clanking as she did so, taking note as she titled her head inquisitively. "It seems there is no more of you." "Too bad this vengence is bitter-sweet..." He didn't reveal anything... he had consumed her precious time... he had exhausted her... Groaning, clutching her armored fist as she did so, the cold steel drawing light blood from the palm of her hand. Inku struggled to keep himself from giggling. He'd kill her! The second she got close enough, he'd pull her in and use it! And then she'd be dead, and he'd be dead. The Gotei would have to find a replacement. Oh well~! They could deal with that. This was personal now. He'd kill her by killing himself, and then he'd be happy. Walking closer, he was still breathing... dropping the shield, she raised her Zanpakuto in the air, perparing to plunge it into him. "This is for calling me 'whore'." The blade high, calming her breath, aiming to make a swift death, a strike to the back of the head. His feeble hand raised itself and wrapped it's fingers tightly around her ankle. He had her now~. "Whore..." He gasped, refusing to look up or acknowledge her. He needed to conserve his strength! "Hado Ninety-Six: Ittō Kasō..." He laughed. His body cracked, then exploded, as the large stream of fire envelouped them both. Eyes opening wide, 96?! The technique erupted, twisting her leg from the weak hand, grabbing her shield, she turned her face to the explosion, using Sonido to vanish as far as she could before the explosion caught up with her. The air rushing, sand flaring. Her body in the air, curled up to hide behind as much protection as she possessed. Closing her eyes, the Hado had devestated the land-scape, destroying a large radius of the dunes, her body crashing into the sand. Slashs and large bruises all over her body. She could feel that her hand was broke, wincing... she stood up, hardly able to do so. The pain was overwhelming... All... for nothing. Looking to the far distant citadel of the once mighty God-King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan... and once the fortress of Aizen. Ardiente started to limp, heading in the direction, sure to find rest there... Letting out a breath, her gaze now towards the sky, she whispered the words. "Please protect her." She had no deity, she had no one, but... she needed hope, and even if it meant speaking to the winds... she would.